Five Soldiers Killed by VBIED in Iraq Among Latest Casualties

Six soldiers, two Marines and an airman die overseas in combat and non-hostile situations in recent days.

Salem-News.com

(SALEM, Ore.) - As politicians frequently tout "success" in Iraq and we look back at Bush's 2004 victory speech aboard a Navy carrier, it seems beyond tragic that we have to list another long group of names and circumstances detailing the deaths of Americans in this nation.

While the casualty rate has surged in Afghanistan, the Department of Defense reports the death of five soldiers in a single incident in Mosul, Iraq.

Additionally, an airman and a soldier died in Afghanistan in non combat-related incidents, a Marine in Afghanistan was killed in combat, and another Marine died in Iraq from a non combat-related incident.

The five died April 10th when their military vehicle was struck by a suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device, VBIED or "VBID" in Mosul, Iraq.

They were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colorado.

Killed in the attack were:
Staff Sergeant Gary L. Woods Jr., 24, of Lebanon Junction, Kentucky
Staff Sergeant Bryan E. Hall, 32, of Elk Grove, California
Sergeant Edward W. Forrest Jr., 25, of St. Louis, Missouri
Corporal Jason G. Pautsch, 20, of Davenport, Iowa.
Private Bryce E. Gautier, 22, of Cypress, California

The DoD also identified a member of the U.S. Air Force who died in Afghanistan. Airman 1st Class Jacob I. Ramsey, 20, of Hesperia, California, died April 10th of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident in Kabul Afghanistan.

He was assigned to the 712th Air Support Operations Squadron, Fort Hood, Texas. The circumstances surrounding the incident are under investigation.

Marine Lance Corporal Blaise A. Oleski, 22, of Holland Patent, New York, died April 8th while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

Another Lance Corporal of Marines, 21-year old Stephen F. Dearmon, 21, of Crossville, Tennessee, died April 3rd as a result of a non-hostile incident in Anbar province, Iraq.

He was assigned to 2nd Marine Logistics Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

The military reports that the incident involving Stephen Dearmon's death is under investigation.

Army Specialist Adam M. Kuligowski, 21, of Arlington, Virginia, died April 6th in Bagram, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident.

Adam Kuligowski was assigned to the Special Troops Battalion, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

The circumstances surrounding the incident that led to the soldier's death are under investigation.

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Tim King is a former U.S. Marine with twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. In addition to his role as a war correspondent, this Los Angeles native serves as Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor.
Tim spent the winter of 2006/07 in Afghanistan with Oregon troops. Tim recently returned from Iraq where he covered the war there while embedded with an Oregon Guard aviation unit. Serving the community in very real terms, Salem-News.com is the nation's only truly independent high traffic news Website, affiliated with Google News and several other major search engines and news aggregators.
You can send Tim an email at this address: newsroom@salem-news.com